It is hard to believe that our trip to Disney World was two months ago!!! Definitely one of those "feels like yesterday/feels like forever ago" memories...
The sorting, packing, shopping, prepping, cleaning, updating, moving out, moving in, shopping, unpacking, re-sorting, cleaning, decorating, shopping that has been the last several weeks of my life is finally slowing down! Sooo, I'm forcing myself to stop searching through endless pieces of fabric for valences and countless rug options to get back to pictures of those sweet memories.
Just for fun... here's a refresher of how we broke the news to Maelee. The big reveal came in a birthday present of a Disney princess autograph book with the words "I will go to Disney World!" written on the first few pages. Needless to say, it did not click right away! But as she slowly processed that this was actually happening, we had one excited little 5 year old:
And a little over 36 hours later, we were on an airplane to Florida!
And at the resort, quickly outfitted with a tiara and wand, not even 48 hrs after the news broke.
We stayed at a gorgeous Hilton resort through my parent's RCI timeshare which worked out great- two spacious, beautiful rooms, a full kitchen, patio that looked out onto the pool grounds... which both girls enjoyed! Lilee loved the fountains and we didn't waste much time after arriving before trying it all out.
On our first full day, we had the super special treat of a quick visit from my cousin, Niel, and his family- Kristin, Caleb, and Luke. We were so grateful they drove up to see us! Maelee loves every minute she gets with Caleb and they quickly made themselves comfortable together.
Just a little "Where's Waldo" time
Luke trying to figure out what to make of Lilee :)
Then out we go!
They all loved those fountains...
And the pool!
Our Disney experience began later that afternoon with dinner at the Grand Floridian featuring Cinderella herself, complete with Prince Charming, Lady Tremaine, Anastasia, & Drizella. It was awesome. Pretty tasty food and those characters were fabulous! Far cry from our last Cinderella interaction (click here if you need a reminder)..lol.
Ready to go!
Maelee had to know what kind of shoes she had on :)
The sisters were absolutely hilarious and one of my favorite memories of the whole trip was at the dinner when Lilee was just wandering around the restaurant. I ended up having to chase her away from photo-bombing a family getting their picture with Drizella and without missing a beat, she loudly exclaims, "Control your baby, lady!" She was a hoot.
Maelee met little "Princess Tiana" while in the bathroom (one of the things we love most about our girl is how friendly she is and will just start making conversation with everyone she meets no matter where we are!) and those two were just adorable together. They were practically inseparable towards the end of our meal!
Our trip definitely began with a bang!
Slideshow of resort & Cinderella Dinner:
We had a four-day park hopper pass so we took in the Magic Kingdom at the beginning and the end, with Epcot and Hollywood Studios in one day, and the Animal Kingdom the other. Since there are hundreds of pics just from the Magic Kingdom, I'm breaking up these posts and only including the other three parks in this post. So it's a little mixed up, but so it goes with sooo many pics!!!
The fast pass system was a life-saver for us and allowed us to hit many of the must-do rides with no line! So our Epcot time started with an underwater Nemo ride, followed with some fun with the shark characters...
Maelee loved counting the sharks :)
We started with a theater performance of the Little Mermaid which Lilee LOVED! She was hilarious. Lots of clapping and (loud) babbling. Then an outdoor performance of the Beauty & the Beast, followed by a puppet-like performance of some favorite Disney Jr characters, and finally, the can't-be-missed Frozen Sing Along! Lilee was slowly running out of steam trying to sit through everything so I took her out to explore during the Disney Jr show and Steve walked around with her during the Frozen show.
Tickled...
Totally beside herself!
And both Steve and Lilee loved their time walking around the streets and sets of the Hollywood Studios park :)
In the middle of our week, we spent the day at the Animal Kingdom where we took in lots of animals, two more incredible live shows, and one wild ride. Another great day!
Lilee especially loved it...
We were so proud of Maelee for braving the river ride- we all got pretty wet, but the poor grandma (not Nana!) riding in the boat with us get the most soaked of all! She was a trooper! Then we got to take in two amazing live shows, first an extravagant circus-type performance with characters from the Lion King, and then Finding Nemo done puppet-style where people controlled the sea life and sang their hearts out!
All in all, we had a great time at all three parks and were consistently blown away by the talent of the performers. I was also struck with how the Disney "cast members" (aka staff) were so low-key in the sense that they weren't at all phased by kids' antics and it was truly evident that the most important thing was the guest's experience.
Here are dozens more shots from Epcot, Disney Studios, & Animal Kingdom:
While it's no secret that most of this trip was centered around our newly turned 5 year old, we really did all have an awesome time, and Steve and I even had the additional blessing of enjoying the Magic Kingdom for a Disney Date Night! Since we got back on the earlier side from the Animal Kingdom, the girls got some Nana & Pop-Pop + pizza time while Steve and I took in some rides.
Clearly, we had a good time :)
And I'll leave it at that for the Disney post, Part 1! And here's hoping Part 2 won't take another two months... The pictures are organized at least, so stay tuned!
